Gun-confiscation programs start to launch across the country but have their critics

HARVEY, Ill.—Many politicians have called recently for new laws to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining guns. But in some parts of the U.S., the focus has turned to confiscating firearms from the convicts and mentally ill who already have them.

Under federal and most state laws, legal gun owners lose their right to possess firearms when they are convicted of a felony or violent misdemeanor, or are judged by a court to be mentally ill. Officials tell these people they must surrender their guns, but in...